Question: How can I download a whole e book as a PDF?

The Library purchases e-books from various publishers on different platforms and the possibility to download a book and the length of the download depend on the platform.

Books on Ebook Central and EBSCOhost platforms can be downloaded for offline use for a number of days. Use the "download" button. Adobe Digital Editions is required by these platforms. On most of these platforms you have to create a free personal account and be signed in in order to download a book or chapter. After the selected number of days, your loan will expire and you will have to download the book again.

You may copy or print from these platforms, but there will be a limit to the number of pages that can be printed or saved as PDFs.

Most of the other platforms support DRM free PDFs, e.g. Science Direct and WorldBank eLibrary. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is copyright protection for an electronic product that limits the length of the loan of the downloaded e-book, and the amount of copying and printing. DRM free therefore means that there are no restrictions on the downloading or copying of these documents and you will be able to download a book or a chapter as a PDF. Keep in mind, however, that there are still printing and downloading limits imposed by copyright laws and our licence agreements. 

You will find more information on e-books at Stellenbosch on our E-books LibGuide.